#3 Stop Retyping the Same Things
Imagine a store where customers keep walking in and placing different orders throughout the day. The store owner manually enters every product name, price, tax and description while creating invoices. During a busy day at work, the store owner had to slow down the billing just to avoid costly mistakes.
That's when they realized the problem wasn't the number of customers, it was the lack of a properly configured item list.
Your item list is a one-time investment that pays back on every invoice you ever raise. The more complete it is, the faster your invoicing becomes.
Robin Bill, Founder of Black Moth Media, has done the same and has expressed that, "Zoho Invoice helps me manage all my finances in one place, while also saving at least 4 hours per week".
Items in Zoho Invoice serve as a central place for all your products and services, giving you quick, early access when creating transactions.
Go to Items -> +New Item
Make sure to fill in
- Product/Service name
- Rate
- Tax rate
- Description
- Unit (if applicable)
- SKU/Product Image
Moving from another invoicing tool or spreadsheet?
Go to Items -> More -> Import Items
This is useful if you already maintain items data in a spreadsheet, Google Sheet or another invoicing/accounting tool. Before importing, make sure your CSV file matches the sample import file.
This is important because, instead of entering everything manually each time, Zoho Invoice helps you,
- Reuse items instantly.
- Keep pricing consistent.
- Reduce manual mistakes.
- Create invoices faster.
- Track sales by item.
Good item setup today means faster invoicing every single day.
Important Action:
Along with the item's name and description, you can also add an image that appears on invoices.
To add a product image, go to Settings -> Items -> Field Customization and change the Image field to Active.
You can also have this appear on the invoice PDF. Along with the image, you can add SKU, selling price, etc.
Things to Remember
Configure every item with the current details, such as item name, description, unit, price, tax, and whether it's a product or service, so invoicing will be accurate.
Pro Tip: Write your item description as clients will read it on the invoice, not as you think about it internally.
Watch out: Forgetting to assign a tax to an item is the most common mistake at this step. Some editions of Zoho Invoice will not flag it automatically. Always double-check before saving. 